Messages

16

Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad / Re: Visit 9/29/19

« on: December 18, 2019, 09:27:10 PM »

Bill - hopefully no "ghost trains" ran that night!

17

Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad / Re: Visit 9/29/19

« on: October 26, 2019, 10:33:22 AM »

Thanks for the report and photos Mike.  It's time for Sue and me to go up there again - maybe for Old Home Days next summer unless Sue has a college reunion (UM Farmington) coming up.  Hey I'll be retired and MAYBE have some time for more than one trip.

18

Museum Discussion / Re: Reflections on 30 Years of the WW&F

« on: August 26, 2019, 08:59:14 PM »

Jason, I thoroughly enjoyed your memories of your early days at the WW&F.  I didn't get there that often, but I seem to remember one time back before the turn of the century meeting you at the WW&F during the time I was learning a lot about the 2 footers.  I think you had ridden your bicycle to the WW&F that day and you were primarily working on track at this time and you said your goal was to have track to the same standards as Harlan White had on the Sandy River.  I must have just finished reading one of Jones's Sandy River books as I knew of Harlan White's work.  I remember thinking that if this young lad was that familiar and interested in the history of the 2-footers then there is a good future up here.  Since then I remember talking with other younger members such as Joe Fox and more recently Bryce Weeks, Dan Malkowski and James Noblini to name a few - yes, there is a lot of good youth around there. 
Now that I'm one of the old timers at my "home" railroad museum I try to spend extra time encouraging new and especially younger members there, usually adding "I started getting into rail preservation back in the 1960s when I was your age."

19

Museum Discussion / Re: Reflections on 30 Years of the WW&F

« on: August 18, 2019, 02:19:15 PM »

I was up at the work weekend when Emily was helping out,  quite covered with Maine clay mud and really enjoying herself.  One thing she did was moving some rather large stones to the slope of  the Albee's crossing approach road and I'm sure they're still there if the logging equipment didn't disturb them.  I've mentioned that weekend to family and friends that I have ridden with on the train when passing that point.

20

US Two Footers / Re: Fort Benning Georgia 2' gauge Baldwin

« on: July 24, 2019, 08:22:55 PM »

My Dad went into the army 8 years to the day before I was born, joining on June 17 1942.  As he had experience in the Mass. State Guard before the US entered WW2 he was accepted to attend the Officers Candidate School at Ft. Benning.  I always enjoyed listening to his Army experiences and one included riding on the "Chattahoochee Choo Choo out to the rifle range and return.  He did have a bit of an interest in railroads and that included the 2-footers.  As a child we went to Edaville a couple of times and as an adult I took him to the MNG and WW&F in their early histories. 
At some point in more recent years I was happy to see a bit of the Chattahoochee Choo Choo had been preserved and I was happy to see Mike had found it.

21

Work and Events / Re: Spring Work Weekend 2019, and other upcomimg Work Weekend Prep

« on: March 29, 2019, 09:28:08 PM »

Excellent work, Bill! This seems to be a major improvement over the old system of having a few of us standing alongside the flat car using our shovels to direct ballast pushed off the deck.   

22

Museum Discussion / Re: Sheepscot pictures for the away crowd.

« on: January 18, 2019, 08:44:59 PM »

Excellent series of black and white photos, Brendan.  Nothing I could see to indicate the year they were taken - could have been the teens or twenties!

23

Museum Discussion / Re: A WW&F Christmas card...video

« on: December 25, 2018, 10:52:24 AM »

Thanks for sharing that, Eric.  Merry Christmas to you and all the folks at the WW&F.

24

General Discussion / Re: The best part of being a WW&F member at Christmas ...........

« on: December 25, 2018, 10:22:30 AM »

Looking forward to the Spring Work Weekend

25

Volunteers / Re: November 2018 Work Report

« on: December 04, 2018, 09:20:55 PM »

To add to what Steve Smith said, those "snow jets" were great at launching ballast stones as well as snow and ice.  I heard stories of car and truck windows being damaged in the Hartford CT yard.

26

Volunteers / Re: October 2018 Work reports

« on: November 07, 2018, 11:16:39 AM »

I like the side board idea.  Several of us on ballast duty standing on the ground would hold shovels to direct the ballast shoveled from the deck to a point under the car.  The only problem was putting to much off the deck to where the trucks were. 

27

Work and Events / Re: Trout Brook Bridge - Official Work Thread

« on: September 27, 2018, 08:24:43 PM »

What world class work the bridge crew has done.  Looking forward to the FWW visit to see the progress in person, but many thanks to Brendan, Mike and the others who have kept us folks from away up to date photographically.

28

General Discussion / Re: 60-Picture Presentation on the Georges Valley RR

« on: August 31, 2018, 10:13:45 PM »

Wish I lived closer - once again!

29

Whimsical Weirdness and Foolery / Re: OMG! You can get Moxie in PA......

« on: August 26, 2018, 08:55:40 PM »

My wife Sue and I had a tour of another Moxie bottler - Orca Beverage of Mukilteo, Washington.  The manager told us if we had requested ahead of time, they would have run Moxie on the bottling line.  To my knowledge the Mukilteo and Catawissa Moxie products both use cane sugar.  Sue will drink those but usually not the local corn-sweetener produced offering.
I like them all.

30

General Discussion / Re: Wiscasset Station Maine Central/ Knox & Lincoln

« on: August 07, 2018, 09:01:17 PM »

I never knew it survived.  Good news.